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Google has opened another office on Europaallee in Zurich. The largest development site for YouTube outside of Silicon Valley is also located in Zurich.
The Google location Switzerland is world famous, and not only for its slides in the middle of the office. The Zurich team is primarily developing YouTube – the video platform that belongs to Google.
Patrick Warnking, head of Google Switzerland, explains what’s coming up on YouTube: “The options for users to make their settings, present their preferences, set their privacy: all of this will be significantly expanded.”
In addition, there is the possibility of having videos translated and watching them in your own language, according to the Google Switzerland boss. “This gives even more people worldwide access to information and education.” Anyone who uses YouTube for their videos in the future will also be interacting with programs from Zurich.
During the corona pandemic, conspiracy theories spread widely on the platform. That’s why the Zurich team is also researching topics related to “fake news” and disinformation. “To be honest, that’s a big challenge,” says Warnking.
“On the one hand, we want – and that is part of the basic understanding of our democracy – to simply enable a diversity of opinion. But there is always a very legitimate, controversial discussion about where to draw the line.”
ETH graduates asked by Google
YouTube thus balances freedom of expression and the fight against fake news. In order for the balancing act to succeed, skilled workers are needed. When the location on Europaallee was founded, Federal Councilor Guy Parmelin said that more than half of all IT experts would start at Google after graduating from ETH. This is why there is a lack of cyber specialists in the army, for example.
Is Google partly responsible for the shortage of skilled workers? No, on the contrary, says Urs Hölzle, chief engineer at Google Global and the most influential Swiss at Google. “If you look at the 17 years since we’ve been here, there are a lot more technical professionals in Zurich than before,” he says. “And we are also quite proud that we helped. There are around 60 start-ups in Zurich that were founded by Google. We are a very strong driver of Zurich’s growth.»
Legend:
Patrick Warnking (left) and Urs Hölzle at the media event for the opening of the new Google Campus on Europaallee on Monday, June 27, 2022.
key stone
According to Hölzle, Google is making sure that more specialists are attracted to Zurich and Switzerland. That’s why Google will continue to grow in Zurich. According to Google, it intends to open a new office in Zurich as early as next year.